assembling my 1st tele. Clueless, but stubborn.

finally decided to do this. Was gonna do it all from scratch but figured I would buy and "assemble" a hopefully good looking and playable instrument.
Waiting on the body. A flamed maple top and back from ebay. Was thinking a tobbaco stain or dye (1st question I guess?) with a glossy finish. Thought gold hardware would look nice too especially with the gold fretwire on the warmoth neck I'm eyeballing. Can someone direct me a little on the whole stain/finish thing please? From what I've already read there are some awfully gifted people posting here. Thanks.
Paul.

Welcome to the group Paul.

There is some good info on finishing at the ReRanch site. (http://www.reranch.com/basics.htm)

There's also some good info on the StewMac site (http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/Finishing.html) too.

Just a few to get you started. And you can always search the TDPRI or come back here with specific questions.

Welcome aboard Paul. There is lots of help available here if/when you need it.

In my experience, building a guitar is easy, but finishing is a you know what in the you know where. I can knock out the wood working in a little of no time, but the finishing, especially spraying kicks my but everytime. I think It takes me 4-5 times longer to apply a quality finish than it does to actually manufacture and assemble the guitar.

Good luck, take your time, follow the directions and do it right. If you don't you will end up with sanding scratches and dips in your final product. In my opinion, Finishes really seperate the men from boys when it comes to building/assemebling. Bite the bullet, and buy lot of sandpaper.

Thanks to you guys. I have looked at stewmac and reranch previously and cant quite figure out if a transparent stain is what Im after for a flamed top and back. And wonderiong how that same tone would look on the ash body/sides. And how to have a defining line between the top and main body or if needed. Or if a burst would work.
These are all things I've looked at but Ill just have to dig a little deeper on this site I guess.

Oh and by the way Baw, that cedar tele finish is sweet. I showed it to my hard to impress son and he was taken aback . I could tell he was not expecting a "home" finish to look that good. Its a clean looking axe for sure. Im gonna ogle JKINGS pics now!!

In my experience, building a guitar is easy, but finishing is a you know what in the you know where. I can knock out the wood working in a little of no time, but the finishing, especially spraying kicks my but everytime. I think It takes me 4-5 times longer to apply a quality finish than it does to actually manufacture and assemble the guitar.

Good luck, take your time, follow the directions and do it right. If you don't you will end up with sanding scratches and dips in your final product. In my opinion, Finishes really seperate the men from boys when it comes to building/assemebling. Bite the bullet, and buy lot of sandpaper.

Thank you. Good advice and I will take it.

Oh and by the way Baw, that cedar tele finish is sweet. I showed it to my hard to impress son and he was taken aback . I could tell he was not expecting a "home" finish to look that good. Its a clean looking axe for sure. Im gonna ogle JKINGS pics now!!

Thanks man. I'm liking that guitar a lot. There is a build thread here (http://www.tdpri.com/forum/telecaster-discussion-forum/118826-cedar-tele-build.html) if you want to see some more pictures of that one.